Croatia: Still Hostage of Communist Fury

The violent communist furore unleashed from Serbia and within Croatia from rebel Serbs and pro-Communists in 1991 when Croats voted overwhelmingly to secede from communist Yugoslavia has not died down to a tolerable degree despite the horrible war of aggression being long over, with Croatia – a victorious independent state on its way to full democracy. Although physical violence in opposition to freedom and independence is not to be found in Croatia today a perhaps nastier type of violence keeps eroding peace and maintains deep ideological divides from the past afloat.

Retired Colonel Mijo Crnoja, resigned 28 January 2016, just six days after being sworn in as minister for veterans’ affairs in new government of Croatia. His resignation came as a consequence of a tantrum media lynch spurred on by the Social Democrat (communist) operatives who alleged (falsely) that he had acted illegally by registering as his residential address a shed, in which he did not live, on a piece of land in Samobor (town near Zagreb) he received as a war veteran with favourable conditions – including a loan – to build his house on within 3 years. The allegations suggested that Crnoja registered that address as his residence because taxes were lower in Samobor than the Capital Zagreb and, hence, is accused of avoiding taxes and that he should have built his house within 3 years rather than breaching his veterans’ loan contract. An independent legal team appointed to look into these allegations found Crnoja had done nothing wrong nor did he breach any laws or contracts of Croatia, Crnoja, like a true and honest man, offered his resignation to the new government nevertheless, explaining that because of the unsavoury media scandals made up of lies and false allegations he does not “… want to be a burden to the government“.

But of course, it’s as clear as a sunny day: the die-hard communists and their friends who do not want any reference to communist crimes out in the public let alone condemning them, who did not want an independent or democratic Croatia, did not and do not really care about Crnoja’s residential circumstances – what they evidently care about is that Crnoja’s announced “register of traitors of Croatian interests” never gets off the ground because they or their fathers or mothers may become a name on that register. Having ones name on such a register would perhaps threaten the nest-egg of income they’ve had as politically appointed operatives in jobs that to a plain eye appear “normal”, or, they simply are agents of those in whose interests it is to keep undermining Croatian society into perpetual ideological division between communists and non-communists where the former are presented as better deserving of Croatian freedom even if they fought against it one way or another! They fight and they will fight against lustration any way they can.

A large number of psychological and otherwise scientific studies have supported the anecdotal view that humour and laughter are therapeutic for relieving tension and anxiety. Croatia’s evident opponents to lustration, such as the artistic collective SKROZ, have, in what strongly appears as an effort to reduce anxiety from guilt of many who could end up on the properly and evidence-based constructed register of traitors, hurried last week into creating a humour-inspired website “Register of traitors” where anyone can put their name down as traitor and the reason why they consider themselves as traitors. Collective SKROZ have been described as a group of people who work towards tolerance of diversity in Croatian society – and yet, by the very act of starting their own “register of traitors” that’s meant to ridicule a minister’s announced initiative, they make steps in denying the government minister the right to implement his initiative in a fair manner! As expected – in a country still buzzing with former active communist families thriving on ideological divide – several thousand entries (alluding to loyalties to nationalism, communism, insulting racial or ethnic or sexual slurs and discrimination) appeared on the website – attracting a media frenzy most misplaced – within the same two days during which their other comrades were further agitating the public by sowing false allegations against the newly appointed minister for veterans’ affairs, Crnoja. The entries on the “SKROZ register of traitors” website and the whole exercise of this obviously politically charged initiative created an atmosphere of humour and ridicule directed at Crnoja and the new government. But, as fate and fair consequences would have it, this atmosphere of humor and ridicule is firing right back at its creators. For it is as clear as a sunny day that their humour and ridicule are nothing other than blatant defence mechanisms through which these “self-appointed traitors” are trying to distance their guilty ego from their real Self; they are avoiding the real truth that among them or their family there really are true traitors of Croatian interests and this truth hurts and they do not want the pain so they ridicule; they banalise and try to render trivial the disquieting truth that Croatian independence did and does have enemies from within – in some cases it could even be they themselves!

So, as I said above, the nongovernmental organisation SKROZ art collective raced ahead of Minister Mijo Crnoja to set up a website, filled with nasty and misguided self-importance: “we have not only hastened the identification of traitors but have also saved the newly formed government from the torture of having to implement procedures of public procurement and other lawfully regulated bothers…,” says on the website.

How utterly depraved!

Then the group invited all Croats who felt they had betrayed their country to voluntarily register themselves as “guilty”. The “guilt” registered has panned out with a significant number of statements that are the hate speech one supposes SKROZ collective would not want to be associated with (?). Yet, days into the website it has not been shut down nor hatred inciting “statements” adequately moderated! They plan to have the website open on a permanent basis! What a desperate attempt to try and dissuade the government from pointing fingers at true traitors of Croatian interests.

SKROZ collective keeps the banner of hate talk fluttering about and yet, only a couple of days before, journalist Marko Juric and Z1 TV were temporarily shut down for alleged hate speech as it exposed Serb Orthdox priests from Zagreb singing Serb Chetnik songs to and glorifying Serb Chetnik Murderers!

The new Croatian government has a great deal of work ahead of it in cleaning up the absolutely atrocious and awful mess the former leftist government left in the media arena. It’s most disturbing seeing the blatant discrimination being practiced in public media in Croatia and that discrimination to be in favour of communist totalitarian regime sympathisers or left-wing political arena, as it were. The e-media authority that shut down Z1 TV has not even batted an eye against the SKROZ collective website where there are thousands of snapshots in the form of phrases or statements that are designed to incite hatred and inflame ideological division within the Croatian society.
I do trust that if by any chance SKROZ collective are in receipt of any Croatian government funding the same funding is withdrawn forthwith. For not only does a non-government organisation such as SKROZ give itself the task of ridiculing a serious national issue such as traitorous behaviour that undermines freedom and independence but it feeds hate speech and incitement of hatred via its website.

Sadly, but evidently under the pressure of public ridicule that stemmed from the SKROZ website, Minister Crnoja announced that the focus of the new veteran affairs minister and his associates will not be any kind of registry, but much more important existential, social, and health problems of the [veteran] population and resigned his ministerial post withing days! What a shame he pulled away from the idea of participating in lustration by way of a well defined register of traitors. What a shame he resigned! Lustration was never going to be easy and the sooner the new government of Croatia accepts that and acts decisively in ridding Croatia of communist remnants the better. A good thing that hovers with promise of better days to come for freedom and democracy is that thanks to the Member of Parliament, retired general Zeljko Glasnovic, the need for lustration retains its strong voice in the parliament and on the streets.

The battle over what kind of society Croatia should be looks far from over. Thee are still many communists or former communists or those who are not ready to admit that communist Yugoslavia truly was a totalitarian regime condemned by the modern world of today!

Croatia’s Minister for CultureZlatko HasanbegovicSeems adamant in resolveto rid Croatia of as muchof communist lies and pressure as possiblePhoto:Goran Jekus/Pixsell

Hence, we can expect many more rallies against the new government especially now that lustration is openly talked about in the Parliament and some newly elected parliamentarians, part of new government coalition, are asking for a review of funding supports to non-profit media internet portals and non-profit NGOs and their activities. About time someone implemented proper audits of NGOs in Croatia as many have been cradles and nests of communist anti-Croatian independence, for too long. Rallies against the new government and its minister for the culture, Zlatko Hasanbegovic, are also expected from the communist league particularly because the minister has a couple of days ago done away with support funding for several smaller internet media/social outlets and plans to cleanse the media environment of political rot that keeps poisoning progress into democracy and keeps stifling the processing and condemnation of communist crimes. Furthermore, the new Croatian government differentiates loudly between communists and antifascists, saying clearly that communists of Yugoslavia were not antifascists as they pretend to be and this is a big thorn in the eyes of communist sympathisers. Their tempers are likely to flare up more but they had it too good for many decades as reward for their political allegiance – it’s time Croatia went fully democratic and many more positions in society and workplaces earned through professional merit, not political sentiment and allegiance. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)

Ina, this is the land of my grandfather.
He fled Bulgaria to America in about 1915, but referred to himself as both Bulgarian and Yugoslavian which to this day still confuses me.
He said his family lost their land in the political take over, his father was jailed, and he emigrated, stowed away on a steamer, through Ellis Island to the US.
His brother, Uncle Alexander, was a professor of mathematics at the University of Sophia. I knew him and loved him.
In America Papa (my grandfather) became a superior court judge and when I knew him, spoke seven languages.
I have never been to this region, but will go.
I am so seriously sad about all the suffering befalling such remarkable people.

You’d think people can learn and accept and move on but sadly some stick to their ways terribly. History of individuals at your grandfather’s times, before and after was confusing indeed and terrible times for those wanting freedom and prosperity and prepared to work hard for them. Great to know the success your Papa made of his life in US, Cindy

Ina, with people like Hasanbegovic, Kovac, Glasnovic..in the new government, I think good things are on the way. I am especially impressed with Hasanbegovic and his immediate actions to cut the massive funding to NGOs that are nothing more than agitprop groups that attack Croatian culture and war veterans. An interesting 4 years awaits.

Surely the people who voted for Democracy and having Croatia a country in it’s own right must be getting very fed up with the Communists. I hope they’re voted out at the next elections both locally and in Government. Their power is getting less all the time and people must see these games they keep playing as attempts to discredit the elected Government. They’ll go down with a bang.
They must be named and shamed.
xxx Huge Hugs Ina xxx

Translation Vesna’s comment: Dear Ina, if you have the possibility take a look at yesterday’s Labyrinth (HTV1) and the supplement on the matter of how Croatian veterans live. Regards, Vesna.
REPLY: Thank you Vesna and I did have a look at it, it’s online streaming so available anywhere – It’s such a sad and anger provoking situation to discover that some 73% of veterans from the war have not yet realised their full veterans’ right; it’s so painful to watch that they carry bravery medals but are brought to the bottom of the social ladder, cannot feed themselves, have been waiting all these years for the government to provide a pension they have deserved and yet on meager social welfare payments even if their disabilities or inability to work are the result of their war activities – I was aware veterans in most cases have it bad and only a minority have it the way it should be and I hope this will change to the better soon. The mind boggles that thousands of communist Partisans from WWII or their widows still receive war pensions and yet all the veterans from Homeland War who deserve them don’t

Those poor humiliated veterans are deprived of their rights and honors since the end of the war, since the independence and the first government – not because of ideology, but because of corruption. We have about 200 000 false veterans, priviledged, rich, with high mi8litary pensions, houses, lands… I also hope that one day this will be a just society.

Yes Vesna, not unlike the false communist Partisans Croatia had for fifty years and still does…one does not need to look too far to see where the terrible habits of corruption were made like normal behaviour for many while most suffered – let’s hope so swift justice comes about

dear Ina, I have deep respect for your feelings and beliefs, there is certainly reasons for them. Croats who live far away from their homeland had bitter reasons to leave, mostly political or economical, mostly running away from severe communist regime – for them, Croatia is like a beautiful good great loving mother waiting to embrace her lost people. We who live here see many reasons to criticise and distrust and be disappointed

I’m sure SKROZ & their supporters think themselves as being somehow enlightened, progressive, rebellious – sticking it to the man. The man being of course, supposedly oppressive right-wingers and “ustashe” who are of course, on every corner, under every crevice. (Hah!) Newsflash SKROZ: doing everything that those in power throughout heavily left-wing biased institutions (media, arts, etc) actually want of you does not make you rebellious. But being banned and silenced because those in power fear what you have to say? Now there’s true rebellion!

These useful idiots are playing right into the hands of greedy, selfish, calculating, authoritarians. One cannot be for diversity and tolerance while blindly playing right into the hands of those who separate countrymen into “them and us” for ideological reasons. Unless of course, SKROZ and their supporters are well aware of this and they couldn’t care less about actual diversity and tolerance.

But I guess…enjoy being useful idiots until your masters decide they hate you as much as they hate those of us who speak against them today.

The leftist “progressives” certainly have a knack for that. It truly shows why all people who value liberty must make a very concentrated effort to oppose the ideas of groups like SKROZ. But even more importantly than opposing, we must put forth better ideas, get people talking & realising there is a better way towards tolerance and stability. Groups like SKROZ cannot be allowed to brainwash people into thinking these issues revolving around lustration, Croatian national interests & veteran’s rights are outdated and a joke.

Ina apologies but post your previous post twice anyway here is the right one amazing story and really thought provoking political intrigue in Croatia is as bad if not worse than other places in the world. http://wp.me/p4NkMr-eS

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Welcome!

Welcome to my blog. Here I will bring to you a variety of topics covering the documented truth about that terrible war that Croatia had to endure during the period between 1991 and 1995 and about Croatian political history that shaped a wonderful nation of people.

Croatian people wanted independence for centuries, just as they had it until the twelfth century but fate was not on their side – others wanted their beautiful land. In late 1980′s the will to break free from Yugoslavia which suffocated freedom and self determination through harsh communist party rule finally bore the desired fruit.

In June 1991 Croatia declared its independence; soon after the aggressive war against Croatia broke out. The struggle of the Croatian people for self-determination was a just one. But I fear genuine justice has not been served as there have been, and there still exist, international covert and overt moves to equate victims with aggressors continue in attempts to change history. Truth often becomes obscured and lost and that is why I have chosen to write this blog, to concentrate on actual events and issues about Croatia – wishing it a bright and freedom-loving future.

It certainly was not easy to come out of the war that was fought on two fronts:

1. On the military front the world’s public has seen the indiscriminate bombardment of Croatian cities, towns and villages from land, sea and air; the destruction of civilian targets including homes, schools, hospitals, churches, factories and cultural monuments; the blockading and destruction of roads, bridges and ports; the blockading of power, water, food and medical supplies. What hasn’t been shown on our television sets is the forced clearing and evacuation of towns and villages, followed by looting, torture, rape and murder carried out by the Serbian forces, who were initially backed by the federal Yugoslav army that was largely constituted by Serb nationals; the transportation of multiple hundreds of innocent Croatian civilians from Croatia into concentration camps Serbia (Begejci, Stajicevo, Sremska Mitrovica... from October 1991, and later (1992) transferred into Serb-held camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Omarska, Keratern, Manjaca, Trnopolje).

2. The second front was the war of political propaganda centred on: misinformation about the rights of minorities in Croatia; portrayal of the Croatian people as Ustasha or Fascists; the representation of the Croatian defence forces as illegal paramilitary units; the representation of the Croatian and Slovenian republics as unreasonable secessionists who are unwilling to negotiate; a regurgitation of distorted facts about World War II.

Indeed Croatia had an absolute right to defend itself and this is often forgotten if not often denied it.

Ina Vukic

Ina has been a tireless volunteer on humanitarian aid and fundraising for victims of war in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially war orphans. From1991 to beginning of 1994 she contributed in lobbying for international recognition of Croatian independence and Croatia’s rights in defending its territory and people from military aggression by Serbian forces. For this dedicated voluntary work Ina was awarded two Medals of Honour by the first president of the Republic of Croatia in 1995 (Commemorative Medal of the Homeland War and Order of the Croatian Trefoil).Ina has also written hundreds articles for newspapers in Australia and Croatia on the plight of Croatian people for freedom and self-determination, developing democracy in former communist countries. She holds two graduate and one post-graduate university degrees, specialising in behaviour, clinical and political psychology and management.

Blessed Aloysius Stepinac quote:

“When they take everything from you, you’ll be left with two hands; put them together in prayer and then you’ll be the strongest.” Blessed Aloysius Stepinac (1898 – 1960)

First President of Croatia Dr Franjo Tudjman quote:

“They could not, nor will they ever be able to kill our passion and our need to live in human dignity, in peace with ourselves and with the free nations of Europe. We have carved out that right at our first democratic elections. For this right and for our sacred land we are even ready to die” – Dr Franjo Tudjman (1922-1999) ( Addressing the Croatian nation at the moment of the start of Serbian aggression against Croatia, 16 October 1991)

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